Kansas City Chiefs GM Scott PIoli talked to Steven St. John and Nate Bukaty on 810 WHB's Border Patrol this morning talking about -- what else -- free agency. Specifically, he talked about what his philosophy entering free agency.
He didn't give any names out but did drop a couple of hints on what he's looking for.
"I'm most concerned with what's best for the Kansas City Chiefs and what's best is getting players that fit into our system and philosophically fit into our offense and defense."
He specifically mentioned "defensive players that are two-gap players" when talking about the right fit.
"Generally speaking," Pioli continued, "free agency has been gong on for a number of years now, and what we've seen is players have reputations, personalities, names or salaries, and the way people perceive them, they're sizzle. But I'm more into substance than sizzle. I'm into what's best for the team."
"What happens often in free agency is there's mythical reputations -- players with past Pro Bowls, or past salaries -- that put players in a spotlight that doesn't necessarily mean they're good players. Or certain players that have a certain skill set that can be successful in one system, offensive or defensive system, it doesn't necessarily translate into what we're doing or what we want to do."
I think this can apply to a certain 49ers nose tackle people wanted (and, let's remember, I fully bought into the hype early on so I'm guilty, too): Aubrayo Franklin gets franchised by the 49ers at about $7 million per year. It's been speculated that he's looking for a contract worth $7 million per year. A deal worth $7 million per year is the going rate for elite nose tackles. So the salary, as Pioli mentioned, has created this market for Franklin that, as far as we can tell, doesn't exist.
Lots of what Pioli says is typical GM-speak stuff but he does provide some interesting nuggets if you can correctly read into what he's saying. The take away here, as he's said before, is that the free agent target needs to fit into what the Chiefs are trying to do defensively or offensively.
(That said, I still think not re-signing Shaun Smith was a mistake because he fits the criteria.)